Telecommunication or other types of computer networks provide for the transmission of information across some distance through terrestrial, wireless or satellite communication networks. Such communications may involve voice, data or multimedia information, among others. Typically, such networks include several servers or other resources from which the content or network services can be supplied to a requesting end user. To decrease latency, increase throughput and reduce the amount of traffic being transmitted through a related network, a network will typically attempt to provide the content or communications from a network component that is separated by as little network infrastructure as possible from the requesting device. Thus, a request received from an end user in Denver, Colo. for access to the network is preferably served from a server such that the fewest number of network elements and communication cable distance between the server and the end user are utilized. However, because most end users can access the network through one or more access networks, there may be present several transmission paths between the network server and the end user. Therefore, the route that utilizes the least number of network elements and communication distance may not always be selected by the end user device. Such circumstances may exact an unnecessary usage cost or performance impact for the network.
In addition, it is often the case that an individual network resource, such as a content distribution network (CDN) content-providing server, will utilize one access network to reach an end user while utilizing a separate, non-symmetric path for the user to contact the network resource. For instance, a CDN server may utilize a first access network to reach an end user device, but the end user device may utilize a second access network to contact the CDN server. However, similar to the situation described above, this structure of communication between the end user and the CDN may be utilizing more network elements and communication distance than necessary.
It is with these and other issues in mind that various aspects of the present disclosure were developed.